Patriarch Epiphanius of Constantinople
Encyclopedia
Epiphanius was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from February 25, 520 to June 5, 535, succeeding John II Cappadocia.
was now rising to great splendour through the victories of its generals, Belisarius
and Narses
. Idolatry
was universally suppressed, pagan
books were burnt and images destroyed, the professors of the old religion imprisoned and flogged. At Constantinople
the zeal of Justinian I
for a church policy was shown during the patriarchate of Epiphanius by laws (e.g. in 528 and 529) regulating episcopal elections and duties. These enactments, and the passivity of Epiphanius and his clergy, show the absence as yet for exclusively clerical legislation for the spirituality.
The first conspicuous office of Epiphanius was the charge of the catechumen
s at Constantinople. In 519, the year before his election, he was sent with John II and count Licinius to Macedonia
to receive the documents "libellos," or subscriptions of those who wished reunion with the Catholic Church, at the request of the apocrisiarius of Dorotheus
, bishop of Thessalonica.
On 25 February 520, he was elected bishop by the Byzantine Emperor Justin I
, with the consent of bishops, monks, and people. He is described in the letter of the synod of Constantinople to Pope Hormisdas
as "holding the right faith, and maintaining a fatherly care for orphans".
He accepted the conditions of peace between East and West concluded by his predecessor, Patriarch John II with Pope Hormisdas
; ratifying them at a council at Constantinople, where he accepted also the decrees of Chalcedon
. Dioscorus
, agent of Hormisdas at Constantinople, writes of his fair promises, but adds, "What he can fulfil we don't know. He has not yet asked us to communion". Four letters remain of Epiphanius to Hormisdas, telling him of his election, sending him his creed, and declaring that he condemned all those whose name the pope had forbidden to be recited in the diptychs.
Epiphanius adopted the symbol of Nicaea
, the decrees of Ephesus, Constantinople
, and Chalcedon, and the letters of pope Leo I
in defence of the faith. His second letter was accompanied by a chalice
of gold surrounded with precious stones, a patina
of gold, a chalice of silver, and two veils of silk, which he presented to the Roman church. In order to make the peace general, he advised the pope not to be too rigorous in exacting the extrusion of the names of former bishops from diptych
s. His excuse for the bishops of Pontus
, Asia, and the East is composed in very beautiful language. The answers of Hormisdas are given in the Acts of the Council of Constantinople held under Mennas, in which he states his trust in the prudence and experience of Epiphanius, and recommends lenity towards the returning, severity to the obdurate. Epiphanius is to complete the reunion himself.
The severe measures by which Justin was establishing the supremacy of the Catholics in the East were arousing Theodoric the Great
, the Ostrogothic and Arian
master of Italy
, to retaliation in the West. Pope John I
, the successor of Hormisdas, became alarmed; and in 525, at the demand of Theodoric, proceeded to Constantinople to obtain the revocation of the edict against the Arians and get their churches restored to them (Marcellinus Comes
.
Great honor was paid to pope John in the eastern capital. The people went out twelve miles to receive him, bearing ceremonial tapers and crosses. The emperor Justin prostrated himself before him, and wished to be crowned by his hand. The patriarch Epiphanius invited him to perform Mass; but the pope, mindful of the traditional policy of encroachment, refused to do so until they had offered him the first seat. With high solemnity he said the office in Latin on Easter Day, communicating with all the bishops of the East except Patriarch Timothy of Alexandria, the declared enemy of Chalcedon.
In 531 the dispute between Rome and Constantinople was revived by the appeal of Stephen, metropolitan of Larissa
, to Pope Boniface II
, against the sentence of Epiphanius. Stephen was eventually deposed, notwithstanding his appeal.
Epiphanius died after an episcopate of 14 years and 3 months. All that is known of him is to his advantage. Besides his letters to Hormisdas, we have the sentence of his council against Severus of Antioch
and Peter Mongus
. Forty-five canons are attributed to him.
Biography
The Byzantine EmpireByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
was now rising to great splendour through the victories of its generals, Belisarius
Belisarius
Flavius Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously....
and Narses
Narses
Narses was, with Belisarius, one of the great generals in the service of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I during the "Reconquest" that took place during Justinian's reign....
. Idolatry
Idolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
was universally suppressed, pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
books were burnt and images destroyed, the professors of the old religion imprisoned and flogged. At Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
the zeal of Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
for a church policy was shown during the patriarchate of Epiphanius by laws (e.g. in 528 and 529) regulating episcopal elections and duties. These enactments, and the passivity of Epiphanius and his clergy, show the absence as yet for exclusively clerical legislation for the spirituality.
The first conspicuous office of Epiphanius was the charge of the catechumen
Catechumen
In ecclesiology, a catechumen , “‘down’” + ἠχή , “‘sound’”) is one receiving instruction from a catechist in the principles of the Christian religion with a view to baptism...
s at Constantinople. In 519, the year before his election, he was sent with John II and count Licinius to Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
to receive the documents "libellos," or subscriptions of those who wished reunion with the Catholic Church, at the request of the apocrisiarius of Dorotheus
Dorotheus
Dorotheus may refer to:* Dorotheus , 6th-century jurist who helped to draft the Justinian Code*See Gorgonius for St. Dorotheus, who was martyred with Gorgonius and Peter *Dorotheus of Gaza, monastic father...
, bishop of Thessalonica.
On 25 February 520, he was elected bishop by the Byzantine Emperor Justin I
Justin I
Justin I was Byzantine Emperor from 518 to 527. He rose through the ranks of the army and ultimately became its Emperor, in spite of the fact he was illiterate and almost 70 years old at the time of accession...
, with the consent of bishops, monks, and people. He is described in the letter of the synod of Constantinople to Pope Hormisdas
Pope Hormisdas
Pope Saint Hormisdas was Pope from July 20, 514 to 523. His papacy was dominated by the Acacian schism, started in 484 by Acacius of Constantinople's efforts to placate the Monophysites...
as "holding the right faith, and maintaining a fatherly care for orphans".
He accepted the conditions of peace between East and West concluded by his predecessor, Patriarch John II with Pope Hormisdas
Pope Hormisdas
Pope Saint Hormisdas was Pope from July 20, 514 to 523. His papacy was dominated by the Acacian schism, started in 484 by Acacius of Constantinople's efforts to placate the Monophysites...
; ratifying them at a council at Constantinople, where he accepted also the decrees of Chalcedon
Chalcedon
Chalcedon , sometimes transliterated as Chalkedon) was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari . It is now a district of the city of Istanbul named Kadıköy...
. Dioscorus
Dioscorus
Dioscorus can refer to:* Pope Dioscorus the Great, Coptic Pope of Alexandria .* Pope Dioscorus II, Coptic Pope of Alexandria .* Dioscorus, 3rd century martyr and saint...
, agent of Hormisdas at Constantinople, writes of his fair promises, but adds, "What he can fulfil we don't know. He has not yet asked us to communion". Four letters remain of Epiphanius to Hormisdas, telling him of his election, sending him his creed, and declaring that he condemned all those whose name the pope had forbidden to be recited in the diptychs.
Epiphanius adopted the symbol of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
, the decrees of Ephesus, Constantinople
First Council of Constantinople
The First Council of Constantinople is recognized as the Second Ecumenical Council by the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups. It was the first Ecumenical Council held in...
, and Chalcedon, and the letters of pope Leo I
Pope Leo I
Pope Leo I was pope from September 29, 440 to his death.He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the first pope of the Catholic Church to have been called "the Great". He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452, persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy...
in defence of the faith. His second letter was accompanied by a chalice
Chalice (cup)
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. In general religious terms, it is intended for drinking during a ceremony.-Christian:...
of gold surrounded with precious stones, a patina
Patina
Patina is a tarnish that forms on the surface of bronze and similar metals ; a sheen on wooden furniture produced by age, wear, and polishing; or any such acquired change of a surface through age and exposure...
of gold, a chalice of silver, and two veils of silk, which he presented to the Roman church. In order to make the peace general, he advised the pope not to be too rigorous in exacting the extrusion of the names of former bishops from diptych
Diptych
A diptych di "two" + ptychē "fold") is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. Devices of this form were quite popular in the ancient world, wax tablets being coated with wax on inner faces, for recording notes and for measuring time and direction.In Late Antiquity, ivory diptychs with...
s. His excuse for the bishops of Pontus
Pontus
Pontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Πόντος...
, Asia, and the East is composed in very beautiful language. The answers of Hormisdas are given in the Acts of the Council of Constantinople held under Mennas, in which he states his trust in the prudence and experience of Epiphanius, and recommends lenity towards the returning, severity to the obdurate. Epiphanius is to complete the reunion himself.
The severe measures by which Justin was establishing the supremacy of the Catholics in the East were arousing Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, the Ostrogothic and Arian
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
master of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, to retaliation in the West. Pope John I
Pope John I
Pope Saint John I was Pope from 523 to 526. He was a native of Siena or the Castello di Serena, near Chiusdino. He is the first pope known to have visited Constantinople while in office....
, the successor of Hormisdas, became alarmed; and in 525, at the demand of Theodoric, proceeded to Constantinople to obtain the revocation of the edict against the Arians and get their churches restored to them (Marcellinus Comes
Marcellinus Comes
Marcellinus Comes was a Latin chronicler of the Eastern Roman Empire. An Illyrian by birth, he spent most of his life at the court of Constantinople, which is the focus of his surviving work.-Works:...
.
Great honor was paid to pope John in the eastern capital. The people went out twelve miles to receive him, bearing ceremonial tapers and crosses. The emperor Justin prostrated himself before him, and wished to be crowned by his hand. The patriarch Epiphanius invited him to perform Mass; but the pope, mindful of the traditional policy of encroachment, refused to do so until they had offered him the first seat. With high solemnity he said the office in Latin on Easter Day, communicating with all the bishops of the East except Patriarch Timothy of Alexandria, the declared enemy of Chalcedon.
In 531 the dispute between Rome and Constantinople was revived by the appeal of Stephen, metropolitan of Larissa
Larissa
Larissa is the capital and biggest city of the Thessaly region of Greece and capital of the Larissa regional unit. It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transportation hub, linked by road and rail with the port of Volos, the city of Thessaloniki and Athens...
, to Pope Boniface II
Pope Boniface II
Pope Boniface II was pope from 530 to 532.He was by birth an Ostrogoth, the first Germanic pope, and he owed his appointment to the influence of the Gothic king Athalaric. Boniface was chosen by his predecessor, Pope Felix IV, who had been a strong adherent of the Arian king, and was never elected...
, against the sentence of Epiphanius. Stephen was eventually deposed, notwithstanding his appeal.
Epiphanius died after an episcopate of 14 years and 3 months. All that is known of him is to his advantage. Besides his letters to Hormisdas, we have the sentence of his council against Severus of Antioch
Severus of Antioch
Severus, Patriarch of Antioch , born approximately 465 in Sozopolis in Pisidia, was by birth and education a pagan, who was baptized in the "precinct of the divine martyr Leontius" at Tripoli, Lebanon.- Life :...
and Peter Mongus
Pope Peter III of Alexandria
Pope Peter III of Alexandria , also known as Mongus , was Coptic Pope from 477 until his death and after 482 also recognized as Patriarch of Alexandria by the Eastern Orthodox Church.-Biography:...
. Forty-five canons are attributed to him.